Pope Francis significantly widened the scope of the next planned meeting of the world's Catholic bishops, postponing the event by one year to allow for periods of consultation in every local diocese and at the continental level before the opening of the usual Vatican gathering of prelates.

In an unexpected announcement May 21, the Vatican said the pontiff had chosen to take the move so that the next Synod of Bishops would better involve "listening to all of the baptized."

By Munir Bayouk/ en.abouna.org   :

The Vatican is currently presenting a series of webinars on food for all marking the “Laudato si’ Week” which is being celebrated on May 16-24. The series is intended to draw attention and to influence the UN Food Systems Pre-Summit, due to convene in Rome in July 2021, on the impending global food shortages.

One of the bright outcomes of His Holiness Pope Francis’ visit to Iraq is that Christians in Qaraqosh, who met with Pope Francis two months ago, celebrated  on  May  6 the first communion of 121 children at the city’s St. John the Baptist Church. Further 400 children will receive the sacrament shortly which stands as a stark sign of a living Christian community that restores its active and vibrant role.

His Holiness Pope Francis has instituted the new lay ministry of catechist through the issuance of the apostolic letter  "Antiquum Ministerium" (Ancient ministry) with the intention to respond to an urgent need for the evangelization of the modern world.

What draws attention about the newly instituted ministry of catechist is that it is designed for lay people who have a particular call to serve the Catholic Church as a teacher of the faith.

"... you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8), this is what Jesus Christ said to his disciples in the olive mountain - Jerusalem, promising them that they will receive the blessing of the Holy Spirit that brings them closer to the kingdom of God.

The Feast of Our Lady of Fatima is marked on May 13. It is the feast celebrating the apparition of Blessed Mary to three Portuguese shepherd children on this day in 1917.

This day reminds us that our merciful Mother, Blessed Mary, affirms to us that Her Son, Lord Jesus Christ, has already won for us an eternal victory. In 1917, near the end of World War I, a miraculous event happened in the quaint little city of Fatima, Portugal.

Since the outset of Pope Francis’ pontificate, he has been extending God's mercy worldwide while trying to extinguish violence flaring in various parts of the world. He focused all the time on giving a helping hand to all world countries that suffer from chronic problems and instabilities either by paying visits to these countries or by praying fervently seeking the Lord's help and  mercy.

Christians of all denominations celebrate the Feast of the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead which marks a nonpareil stage in life. It is the stage that ends darkness and replaces it by the brightness of the resurrection; or rather a new life offered to the faithful with a sincere promise of eternal life after death in the presence of the Prince of Peace, Lord Jesus Christ.

Ever since the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic and its rapid spread in the world, an ongoing process of change of the face of humanity was triggered off.

This microscopic creature turned human existence upside down and imposed new patterns of interaction between people, be it at the level of business or at the level of family and social relations.

The hot issue that keeps lingering in the hearts and minds of peace-loving people who seek to maintain Middle East diversity and to look for promoting common living, is the mounting trend of Christian emigration from the Levant.